Method of packing and frying fish.



F. P. McCOLL.

METHOD OF PACKING AND FRYING FISH.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 24. m3.

1 06,877. Patented Dec. 5, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

F. P. McCOLL.

METHOD OF PACKING AND FRYING FISH.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 24, I913.

1,206,877. Patented Dec. 5,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- w v C i Q Qa L I 4 Q I j ,k 1 I, 9/fi07e55e5" e777 fienfor:

M 1. f%% wfij UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS 1. MOCOLL, OF ST. ANDREWS, NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN KEY CAN COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 5, 1916.

Application filed November 24, 1913. Serial No. 802,805.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS P. MoOoLL, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at St. Andrews, county of Charlotte, Province of New Brunswick, Dominion of Canada, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Methods of Packing and Frying Fish, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

In making sardine cans the roll top is soldered to the can body, the other side being left open. After the sardines are packed in the can the open side is closed with a permanent cover. The result is that when a can is opened, the fish are exposed on the side which was the bottom side at the time the fish were placed in the can and therefore the appearance is not as neat as it would be if the packer could see the surface which will afterward be exposed when the roll top is removed. Furthermore, in the ordinary process of packing sardines, it is impossible in practice to fill the cans to exactly the proper height and the result is that when the oil or other dressing is added and the cover is placed in position, a large proportion of the oil or other dressing is squeezed out and is wasted.

One of the objects of my invention is to produce a simple and novel process of packagin sardines in such a way that each can will filled to exactly the proper height to permit the introduction of a predetermined quantity of oil or other dressing without danger that waste will occur when the cover is applied.

A further object of my invention is to produce a simple and novel process which will permit the surface of the sardines ex posed upon removal of the roll top to be carefully arranged in full view of the packer so that it will present a neat appearance when the can is opened.

Sardines are often packaged and disensed in a fried state, the usual method bemg to place the fish in the open can, fry them and then affix the cover. This method is open to the objections heretofore noted with respect to waste of the dressing and it is open to the further objection that during the frying of the fish moisture is driven therefrom and collects in the can, the oil floating on top. Consequently when the cover is applied, the liquid which is squeezed out is the oil and the water remains in the can where it serves to make the fish soggy.

A further object of my invention is to produce a novel method of forming a package of fried fish which will leave the fish in an attractive condition, avoid the presence of water, and prevent waste of the oil dressing.

In carrying out my process I employ a peculiar container in which the fish are first packaged and then fried, if they are to be fried, before being transferred to the can and therefore, viewed in one of its aspects, my invention may be said to have for its object to produce a simple and novel container in which fish may be packed before being transferred or fried and transferred to the can.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for a full understanding of my invention and of its objects and advantages, reference, may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a container arranged in accordance with one form of my invention; Fig. 2 is a. side view of the container; Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the container filled with fish adapted to be fried; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing the condition after the frying operation; Fig. 6 is a transverse section through the'container inverted in a can in which the fish are to be packaged; Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 showing the fish compressed in the can; Fig. 8 is a view simi- I Referring to Figs. 1,2 and 3 of the drawings, 1 is an open-ended shell having an the can,

exterior contour corresponding to the interior of a sardine can. Within the shell is a may be moved;fro1n one end of the shell toward the otherg-the parts being so proportioned that when the movable'bottom is at either end of the shell there .is sufiicient space above it to contain the fish necessary to fill a can. Where the fish are to be'placed in the can in a fresh state, that is without being treated after being placed in the container, they are simply packed in the container and then transferred to the'can as will hereinafter be described. However, where the fish in the can are intended to be fried, I propose to fry the fish in the container and then transfer them to the can. In frying, lengthwise direction but-do not shrink ma.- terially in the transverse dlrection. Gonsequently, if the fish are long enough to fill before. being fried, they will be too short after being fried, and this is a further objection to frying fish in the can. In accordance with my invention, I have made the container extensible, permitting it to be extended to a degree suificient to compensate for the .lengthwise shrinkage in the fish, so that the extended container may be filled and, after the frying, becollapsedto ermit it to enter the can and thus make it possible to fill the can from end to end. In the arrangement shown, the container is made in two halves connected by a pin and slot joint, 3, permitting one end of the shell to be drawn away from the, corresponding end of the movable bottom as illustrated in Fig. 4.

The fish are placed inthe container on -edge as indicated in Figs. 4 and 6, the head ends of half the fish,4, being at'one end of the container and those of the other half of the fish being at the opposite end. However, the fish are all incllned slightly to the bottom of the container so that pressure thereon will tend to roll them over in a flat layer. Where the .fish are to be fried, the

container is first extended and then filled as shown in Fig. 4. The container is then passed through a hot oil bath, causing the fish to be fried. As the container is removed from the bath, the oil and also the water cooked. out of the fish' is drained through the open space left between one end of themember 2 and the shell, so as to leave the fish dry. During the shrinking process the fish become shorter, but upon collapsing the container as shown in Fig. 5, the loss by shrinkage is compensated and the fish again fill the container. A sardine can, 5, with its 7 roll top, '6, secured in place is then slipped over the container and the container is inverted as shown in- Fig. 6. The movable bottom is now pressed down as indicated in the fish become shorter in the recast? Fig. 7, compressing and partially rolling over the fish, and the container is then removed leaving the can filled with fishto a predetermined level which leaves just enough space in the can above the fish to receive the requisite amount of oil and allow the cover 7 to be placed in position without driving out any of the oil. When the roll top is subsequently removed the can presents the appearance illustrated in Fig. 9, the partial rolling of the fish in the compressing o eration giving the surface a neat, braided e ect.

Where the fish are packaged without being fried, the container need not be collapsible, but all of the other steps heretofore described except that of frying are carried out, the neat braided appearance of the surface exposed upon removing the roll top is obtained, and waste ofoil or other dressing upon placing the cover in position is prevented. Where the fish are to be dispensed in a fried state, the additional steps of-my process produce the added advantages of a canfilled from end to end with fish as against the partially empty can where the fish'are fried in the can, and the elimination of the water which is driven ofi' from the fish when the'latter are fried.

It will of course be understood that in the case of small fish a plurality of layers may be placed one upon the other, the top layer in the container always being the bottom layer in the can and the layer which is exposed to view when the roll top of the can is removed.

I claim:

1. The process which consists-in placing fish in an open container conforming in cross section to the shape of a receptacle in which the fish are to be packaged, the fish being arranged on edge and inclined slightly to the plane of the bottom of the container, inverting the container in the receptacle, compressing the fish so as to partially roll them over and bring their sides more nearly parallel with) the bottom of the receptacle and lifting out the container.

2. The process which consists in placing fish in an open container having a bottom constructed to permit liquid to flow out through the same, frying the fish by passing them through an oil bath while in-the container, inverting the container into the receptacle in which the fish are to be packaged and lifting out the container and leavmg the fish in the receptacle.

3. The process which consists in placing fish in an extended open container made extensible from a size conforming in cross section to the shape of a receptacle in which the fish are to be'packaged to a larger size, frying the fish in the container, collapsing the container, inverting the container in the the receptacle and leaving the fish in the re- I ing out the container and leaving the fish ceptacle. in the receptacle. 10

4. The process which consists in placing In testimony whereof, I sign this specifi fish in an open container, frying the fish by cation in the presence'of two witnesses.

5 passing them through an oil bath while in FRANCIS P. MGCOLL.

the container, draining the oil from the fish, Witnesses: inverting the container into the receptacle WM. F. FREUDENREIGH,

in which the fish are to be packaged, and lii't- RUTH E. ZnT'mRvALL. 

